Nadia Ahmed Abdou was sworn in on Thursday before president Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi as the new governor of Beheira, the first female to ever hold a governor post in Egypt.

Adbou is planning to turn Rashid into a touristic area. She also wants to establish industrial projects, including hospitals, schools, and universities.

Abdou has served as the deputy governor since 2013. She spent 10 years, from 2002 to 2012, as chief of the Alexandria Drinking Water Company. She was also the first woman to hold this post. She also supervised water utility projects in Alexandria.

Beheria governorate’s official website published Abdou’s biography. The new governor graduated in 1968 from Alexandria University’s Faculty of Engineering’s Chemistry department.

Abdou was also a member of the National Council for Women’s Rights and the National Democratic Party, headed by ousted president Hosni Mubarak. She was nominated by Alexandria’s governor for the award of Mohamed Ben Rashed Al Maktoum for inspirational women.

Abdou has achieved significant progress while she was deputy governor. The governorate’s people call her “Iron Woman”.